Tick. Tock. Tick. Tick. Tock. These were the sounds that filled Camilia's mind as she slept. And yet, as she fell deeper and deeper into her sleep, the sounds became louder..and she could feel wind brushing past her face at a rather high rate and speed. Eventually, she found herself able to move..and opened her eyes. What she saw at first was just a whipping flash of crimson red, while catching occasional glimpses of a dirty brown, flanked on all sides by a seemingly endless field of silver, bronze, gold, steel..every metal she could identify had a shade represented here. Before she could do anything to brush her hair out of the way however, she felt her descent slow as she seemed to flip back to a position where she would be able to stand, rather than fall onto her back. She touched down rather gingerly, utterly confused now as she brushed her bangs out of her face. What she saw was intensely confusing. She was standing on a rather barren bit of land. All around her were pieces of what looked to be someone’s failed creations.

A bronze arm here, a steel leg there, a shattered sword, missing its handle. This location felt..wrong. Intensely so. But at the same time it held a certain..comfort. She looked around for a few moments, attempting to get a lay of the land. From what she could see, she was in a scrapyard. The ground she was standing on held many failed creations. Blades from swords, scythes, polearms, and daggers all pierced the ground every so often. In some places, the creations were stacked so tall that they made massive mountains of scrap. And yet..there was a rather pleasant scent throughout the area. A scent that was very familiar to Camilia: Oil. The most important component in making sure that a machine could move. To her, it was a very pleasant scent. Still, this scrapyard seemed endless. She held her hand out, calling to the dagger she had enchanted...and nothing happened. She blinked firmly at that, snapping her arm out to the side, calling to it again..and again, there was nothing. This itself pushed the feelings of unease she was experiencing to be the primary feeling. She could still sense her connection to the weapon. It was there..but latent. Something was actively denying her the ability to call forth her weapon. And she definitely wasn’t carrying the polearm she had repaired.

This wasn’t good. She rubbed her face a bit and sighed. There was a path before her. It looked like it was the only thing she could really do. So, with more than a bit of unease in her step, she began on the path. She did notice something rather interesting as she walked through the area..the whole area seemed to be funneling her to a specific area..the center of this land. She still couldn’t help but feel..naked without some kind of weapon. So as she strode through the scrapyard, she looked around through the field of varying shades of metal. Eventually, she managed to find a broken sword of a decent enough length. Slightly longer than her dagger, but definitely still a manageable size. It wasn’t much..but it was better than nothing. “Jeez..what’s going on with this place..” She said as she took a step back after taking the blade from the earth, watching as it knit itself back together, and another blade fell from the sky, landing right where the one she had pulled was. She let out a little sigh as she slipped the sword into a belt loop of her outfit. After that, she walked for what felt like hours, watching as the area around her became more and more packed with scrap that was becoming less and less discernible as to what it actually was. Of course, she only walked in this claustrophobic area for mere minutes before the scrap thinned out, and she was shown a massive area, empty except for what looked to be three small pedestals. She didn’t know why..but something about this area made her exceedingly nervous.

She walked forward, getting closer and closer..until she felt the weight of that broken sword she had been carrying vanish, causing her hands to immediately shoot down to her waist! It..it was gone. However, the moment her hand came to rest against the empty spot on her waist, the silence became almost deafening. She had gotten used to the general sound of the wind blowing through the arid area, shifting the stacks and piles of scrap. However, that sound had vanished. It was now as silent as the grave. If she was nervous before, now she was terrified. And yet, the silence only lasted for mere moments, as the ticking sound had begun yet again. This time it was much louder, and surrounded her. She froze before starting to look around. Pieces of the defunct creations were starting to knit themselves back together, forming scrap golems all around her..but they were all black and red..what was going on?

They all formed fully..but didn’t move, outside of a little bit of twitching from whatever had possessed these golems. The silence returned..but then a voice echoed in her mind. “You have been chosen. Which path of the warrior will you take?” It asked before the three pedestals began to each emit an inner light. The first pedestal that lit up revealed a longsword, the symbol of the warrior. The second pedestal revealed a shield, the bastion of all defensive maneuvers. The final pedestal revealed..a paired weapon. An arming sword and a dagger. Her comfort zone. A fast, balanced set of weapons. Still..she walked up to the first pedestal. “The path of the warrior. A sword of great destruction. A bastion of hope for others. Is this your path?” The voice asked, only for Camilia to shake her head, and walk down to the next pedestal. The shield there was a round one..more akin to some of the shields she had seen come in from another far off land than a shield that would be made in her home.

“The path of the guardian. A shield of great strength. A symbol of the unwavering desire to protect. Is this your path?” And once again, Camilia shook her head. She couldn’t help it. She felt herself being drawn to the final pedestal. “The path of the rogue. A sword of great flexibility. A dagger of unwavering speed. The symbol of one’s dedication to mastering both offense and defense. Is this your path?” Finally, Camilia nodded, reaching for the Arming Sword with her left hand, and taking the dagger with her right hand. The first two pedestals slowly sunk into the earth, while the final pedestal turned into a cube of light..and shot out in every direction, causing a previously unseen wall to fall apart. The four golems staggered forward, obviously unused to their current form. Camilia sighed and took up a combat stance, ready to battle.

The first golem that reached her was rather strange. One arm ended in a shield, much like her Knight Creation, while the other was seemingly welded to a broken blade. This was going to be interesting. She could feel her mana flowing through her body..but it also felt obstructed. It seemed that she would have to rely on her own wits for this battle. She looked over the golem rather thoroughly as it lifted the arm clutching its blade, telegraphing its attack so blatantly. She sighed and moved forward at a decent speed, slicing at its joint with the arming sword, only for the blade to simply glance off the joint, causing her to stumble back and swear under her breath, throwing up a block utilizing both blades. She pushed the golem back after that, and dashed forward, swinging her main weapon several times at its now exposed chest. Then she slammed the dagger into its side several times, making sure to pull it in an outwards slice with the last movement. From what she knew about building these things, that should make it much harder for this golem to move. Of course, once she finished with that assault, she heard the clanking footsteps of a second golem, causing her to dodge to the side just in time to watch the other golem slam a makeshift spear into its companion’s chest!

However, instead of simply collapsing as its source of power was speared through, a strange silver crystallized heart floated off into the sky. Oh. That was what was going on. The first golem’s color changed back into its mismatched types of metal as the second pulled its spear out, the first few inches of it dripping with oil as the first golem collapsed. Camilia turned to face this one. Shit. It was a bit more well made than the first. It was only equipped with a spear..but it was clearly designed to be more mobile than the previous one. It took up a stance appropriate for the usage of the weapon it was utilizing.

Camilia sighed and took up her own stance once more. The golem moved first, dashing forward and thrusting its spear towards her! She moved to the side with a great amount of grace and speed, moving in and swinging her sword at the things chest, slamming the dagger into its throat at the same time, only this one was stabbed several times in the same location, with the final hit being camilia slicing all the way around the front of its neck, slicing through the various tubes that allowed it to move its head, causing the oil that was flowing through them to splatter all over her! She backed up as the thing staggered back, then took up its stance once again. She sighed and dashed forward, making sure to avoid the point of its spear as it began thrusting at her, trying to keep her in range as the possessor that had taken its body as a host began to enhance it, the other golems falling apart and covering the thing as if it were armor. However..something strange started happening as well.

The creature began growing in size..and dissipated. She was left panting a bit as the area became silent again, and the voice echoed throughout her mind again. “I see. You certainly have been chosen for a reason. The path is open. Continue down it. Perhaps at the end you will discover your true potential.” It said before the scrap surrounding her began to make an ungodly loud amount of noise, metal splitting down the middle, pieces of scrap tumbling down the walls that surrounded her until they hit the ground, massive amounts of screeching..and then..a path was revealed. Still..she stood there for a moment, looking around for some kind of cloth..eventually finding a relatively clean looking one among the pile of scrap.

She tugged it out of the pile, wiping her face and clothes down with it as a pair of sheaths appeared on her sides. One for the arming sword, another for the dagger..interesting. It seemed that..wherever she was didn’t really work on normal logic, or even normal physics. Interesting. She sighed and nodded after she finished wiping herself down, making sure to get most-if not all-of the oil. She sighed softly before tossing the rag down onto the floor and adjusting the tightness of the sheaths on her waist before continuing down the path. This one was much, much more saddening to Camilia to look at. These creations weren’t just failed. They were absolutely destroyed. Shards of blades, rusted to hell and back. Legs of attempted golems, bent backwards with holes in them due to rust. Arms that were covered in muck, grime, and rust. And yet, in all of this, there was still no sign of life. But..she also felt her magical power coming back to her with every step she took. The deafening silence returned as the exit to this path came into view.

“You have proven that your warriors path is one worth following. But, we can sense a greater power hidden within you. A power that has been locked away because of this area. We shall return it to you. You shall need it. But, remember this-” It said before cutting out, the whipping wind returning as she walked into a MUCH more open area, the golem from before being the first thing she noticed in the area, after the fact that it was down on one knee, with its spear buried in the dirt. It was..massive. She had no idea how she was going to fight this! She took a step back. And then another. And yet, she could not move any further. She felt a barrier spring up behind her, preventing her from running as the golem started falling apart, revealing an inky blackness as a gigantic pureblood heartless started to take shape before her! And yet, even with all the noise that should have been made by this, there was only silence.

“Even the brightest lights create shadows. But the darkest shadows only show how bright the light within is.”

And as that was said, Camilia felt the blades on her waist start to dissipate, an entirely new weapon forming in her hand. The first thing was the handle. It was very pleasant in her hand, very weightless. Next was the guard for her hand. A ring made of a metal she couldn’t identify forming from within the point at the top of her handle, connecting to itself before the sides became coated in some kind of golden metal. But that wasn’t it. After that, she could feel a weight forming at the end of the handle, causing her to look down, rather than catching glimpses of the weapon in her peripheral vision. The weight at the end of the handle was interesting to say the least. It was shaped almost like a horseshoe. And yet..it dropped off at a very sharp angle once it neared the ring that served as the guard for her hand.

There were also golden bolts placed every so often in this handle. And yet, it still was not done forming. The outer edge of this strange secondary guard started to become almost liquid at the outer edge, extending outwards periodically starting from the very edge of the guard, forming into a single, long spike. More and more of these spikes formed until the other edge of the guard was reached. After that, a very light chain formed. But it was what was at the end of this chain that surprised her. It was..the shard that Professor Serin had created when she went to see him for advice about how to get her working prototype of the Knight Golem running...except it looked almost..drained. Dead.

That confused her, but she was not left to stare at it for long, as a double edged blade started forming from the very top of the initial hand guard. The blade was a very dark liquid, flowing against gravity as a spike formed near the tip. Almost the whole blade hardened after that. However, it was not done forming. The edge of the right side of the tip still appeared to be liquid. Of course, that did not last very long, as a curved blade started forming from the edge, causing this strange weapon of hers to bear a wicked curve near where the right edge of the point should have been. After that, the curve started expanding, creating a complete curve. And yet, the spikes returned. Strangely though, they each seemed to bear an edge of their own, appearing rather beveled, rather than flat spikes that would only jut out of the outside edge of the curve. There were four spikes on this portion of the weapon in total. She still had no idea what kind of weapon this was. But when the dark metal of the weapon hardened, two words popped into her mind. Keyblade. Divide. On their own, the words didn’t make sense. But she didn’t really have time to think about anything, as there was suddenly a deafening amount of noise now as the last bits of golem fell to the ground, and from its place rose a massive heartless. It had a gigantic hole in its chest that seemed to be in the shape of a heart..what was this thing?

Unfortunately, Camilia wouldn’t really have the time to question it, as this massive creature in front of her began by sweeping one of its hands at her! She wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to block that, fuck! She swore as she dashed forward and turned to magic for a solution. She took a deep breath as her body and the weapon she was holding liquefied and scattered, her body reforming above the creature’s hand, allowing her to hit it with as strong a backswing as she was capable of, making sure to drag the spikes along the curve of this thing against it! Sure, she wasn’t too strong physically.

But she had a good idea of how easy it could be to harm this thing. She swore as she rolled upon hitting the ground. It didn’t look like it did much damage. Yeah. This was going to require something more than just her physical strength. Of course..she could try that one thing she hadn’t quite gotten down yet..but no. It would wait. However, something strange happened as she started channelling mana throughout her body..she felt it flowing into the weapon in her hand! Rather than stopping it, she decided to continue onwards, prepping the spell she was going to use. She could feel the mana she was prepping for the spell flow up and through the weapon in her hand. In fact, she could also hear the ball of liquid metal forming within the hook of the blade! The creature meanwhile was also preparing for an attack of its own, raising one of its hands up before swinging downwards. It didn’t seem to be aiming for her, but rather aiming to simply hit near her. As the heartless swung its fist however, Camilia swung her weapon, watching as the orb of metal that was her spell Shatterpoint started sailing through the air, cracking as it flew before shattering into the ten pieces that made up the orb.

Of course, after that the air around them seemed to go stale as it was focused behind each shard, firing off at the creature as Camilia darted off in another direction, looking back as the shards buried themselves into the creature's hand! Though it didn’t wince or flinch, or anything like that, Camilia could tell that definitely did a good amount of damage. Good. Magic was effective against it..but why would that have done so much more damage? It only hit its hand. She’d aimed for its wrist earlier with all her strength, and even made sure to use the spiked side to rip and tear deeper into it! She didn’t know, but she did manage to get out of range as its hand connected with the ground..and sank into it?! Oh, but that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that it was forming a swirling pool of darkness, and she could see the glowing eyes of the cannon fodder shadow heartless that plagued her home.

Shit. She wasn’t going to end up doing very well if she didn’t do something..fuck. Looks like it was time for her to try that new thing she’d discovered. She took a deep breath as the monster withdrew its hand from the ground, the shockwave dispersing as she focused on a different well of power..one that she had much less familiarity with. She then let out that breath as she drew upon it. A bright flash of light and a vortex of wind and metal formed around her as her clothes seemed to become more old, and shredded up a bit. When the light and wind faded however, she was surrounded by the shadow heartless, with the creature seemingly charging up the hole in its abdomen for another kind of attack. Meanwhile, she had her hands covered in gauntlets. She felt stronger..more durable.

Of course, she had also lost access to her own magical powers, in exchange for gaining one very specific one. Still, she took up her weapon. The group of heartless tried to tackle her all at once. But she was fast enough to react to that. She swung the weapon at one of them, catching it by the neck area and proceeding to sweep HARD through the group, testing out her newfound power as the shadows were all launched into the scrap around them, getting impaled on various things before vanishing. Alright. This was where things were going to get interesting. Because the minute that she regained her footing, she could see the gigantic heartless launch a massive ball of dark energy up into the sky..only for it to start coming down at her! Almost instinctively, Camilia threw up a block with this weapon of hers, gritting her teeth as the ball of energy collided with her, sending her skidding back for a few feet as it was launched back at the creature, seemingly repelled by the metal that this strange weapon was made out of. Strangely enough, the repelled energy was aimed directly at its head, colliding with it and exploding! From what she could tell THAT had done a lot of damage, as the thing fell to its knees, seemingly stunned. She dashed forward with that in mind, scaling its arm-which was thankfully at the perfect angle for this-to swing her weapon at its head-nailing it a good four or five times-even though she was disgusted by the mass of tentacles that covered its head.

Of course, she eventually jumped down as she felt the creature start to move, utilizing her control over the very winds to allow herself a slower descent as it rose to its feet again. By the time it was on its feet however, she was on the ground, sighing and looking to the gauntlet on her hand. She had an idea..she could only sustain this for a short amount of time. So, she molded the gauntlet atop her hand to another weapon, this one being a blade that covered the top of her hand, with a handle going across her palm so that she could curl her fingers into a fist, making it much more natural for her to swing this.

Once that was done, she dashed forward. She was pretty confident that she could match this..thing now. Of course, it swung its hand down from above its head. The one that had the shards from shatterpoint lodged into it still. She grinned as she adjusted her position. She was right underneath it now. But, rather than letting the thing crush her, she swung out at it with the weapon in her first hand, following up with a few quick stabs with her other hand. The first attack connected with the hand, and seemed to do a lot of damage this time. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about her follow up attack. Granted though, the combined attacks did make its hand recoil. She nodded and dashed forward after that, swinging the weapon in her hand at its legs really quickly, following each swing up with a stab from her dagger. However, the last stab from the dagger ended up missing! The thing had swung its leg back, and was clearly planning on punting her across the battlefield! She didn’t have much time to react, so she threw her hand outwards, her fingers splaying out as the shell that was covering her body flowed over her hand, mixing with the now liquid metal that covered her hand before projecting itself outwards, taking the brunt of the kick, sending Camilia skidding back, rather than flying back.

She was covered in sweat now. This area was ungodly heated, even with the wind that was whipping around the both of them. Sadly, she also felt herself getting weaker, and less durable. That form was fading, and she was returning to her regular level of power. She had to finish this. FAST. Of course, the amount of damage she’d done to this creature wasn’t insignificant either. It was moving much slower than before. It was even more easy to track. This time it wasn’t fooling around with the shockwave. It went straight into charging up the blast of energy that it had sent at her earlier. She was ready for this one. Of course, the moment she prepared herself to block, the creature had sent off one blast, which was moving MUCH faster than the first! Since these were homing, she knew she couldn’t dodge it..but she didn’t have the time to block. Against her better judgement, she decided to swing the weapon, connecting the hook of the blade with the blast of energy..only for the same thing to happen as last time, when she’d blocked it. Of course, she was sent back skidding further. But she was surprised at the strength of this weapon. From a practical standpoint, it looked ridiculous, like it would snap the first time it was used. But it wasn’t. It was FAR stronger.

She felt her confidence growing as she fought. She swung again, catching the next blast that was sent at her rocketing back to the creature as well! The final blast however, she wasn’t quick enough to stop. She took the full brunt of it, and was sent flying back from the explosion, rolling for a good few feet. That was the first hit she’d taken since she’d arrived here, sure. But it was definitely a hard hit. That was a definite thing to learn from..don’t get hit by those blasts. Still, the thing recovered from its blasts slower than before..and it’s hand-which really seemed to be a weak spot-was near the ground.

She dashed forward once more, swinging the weird weapon in her hand at it, connecting a good two out of the four times she swung...and suddenly..the thing just..stopped. It fell to its knees again as the silence returned, the voice in her head echoing with one last phrase: “But..even the brightest light can be smothered. Be wary of the darkness child, for it will take all that it can.” Camilia backed up, watching as the thing started to fall forward! She let go of the weapon almost immediately, the thing vanishing as she tried to reach the entrance to the area..she got about halfway before the thing fell on her, surrounding her in a darkness so thick that it felt like she was drowning.

Almost immediately, she bolted up from her sleep, covered in a cold sweat as she ran her hand through her hair, panting as she felt her heart race. “Shit..I...really can’t read horror stories before bed like that...weird shit happens…” She muttered to herself as she glanced at the clock on the wall. Christ, it was six in the morning. She opened in an hour. She sighed as she got up out of her bed, walking off to her shower. Still..she couldn’t get those two words out of her head. Keyblade and Divide...she understood the latter..but what was the former…? If only she knew what had actually happened..and how important that event would end up being.

___________________Random Quotes: Felonix: If it exists, it can be fucked